New York – A US-based human rights group on Monday blasted an Indonesian appeal court's decision to overturn the convictions of 12 soldiers in the massacre of Muslim protestors in 1984.

The court ruling "shows the almost complete failure of Indonesia's human rights courts," Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement.

"The Tanjung Priok trials had represented Indonesia's most robust attempt to date to hold perpetrators accountable for (dictator) Suharto-era abuses," HRW said. "But following the acquittals...

victims and their families have no judicial redress for the 22-year-old killings in Jakarta."

An ad hoc human rights court last year sentenced an army captain to three years in jail and 11 of his subordinates to two years each for the shooting spree that killed 24 people in Jakarta's Tanjung Priok district in 1984.

The original verdicts were condemned by rights groups who said Indonesia lacked the nerve to bring powerful military figures to book for atrocities committed during the 32-year rein of former dictator Suharto, who stepped down in 1998.

The trials were Indonesia's second attempt to bring soldiers to court for rights abuses after court proceedings against 18 security officers or officials charged with atrocities surrounding East Timor's 1999 independence vote.

The human rights court acquitted all but one of the 18 accused of the atrocities, prompting calls from rights activists for a UN-backed war crimes tribunal.

"Whether it is a massacre from the Suharto era or killings in East Timor, these verdicts show that the Indonesian military continues to get away with murder," said Brad Adams, HRW's Asia director. "There is clearly no political will in Indonesia to address this kind of impunity."

"The military remains above the law, apparently too powerful for the courts to tame," he added.